DOH reports 17 new cases of Arcturus Omicron subvariant
FILE PHOTO: The ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus is seen in an illustration released by the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. January 29, 2020. Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM/CDC/Handout via REUTERS
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) recorded 17 additional infections of the XBB.1.16 Omicron subvariant of COVID-19, more commonly known as the “Arcturus,” bringing the total to 28.
The World Health Organization has tagged the Arcturus subvariant as a variant of interest. It is a sublineage of the Omicron, which has the ability to evade immunity and is said to be more transmissible.
Based on the DOH’s latest biosurveillance report — reflecting genome sequencing results from May 15 to 19 — majority of these cases were registered in Western Visayas and Davao region, at 7 and 5, respectively.
In total, 199 infections belonging to the XBB subvariant were recorded by the DOH. Aside from the 17 Arcturus cases, the DOH also reported 101 cases of XBB.1.9 subvariant, 25 XBB.1.5, 17 XBB.1.9.2, and 29 infections classified as “other XBB sublineages.”
Along with these new infections are 10 cases of the XBB.2.3 subvariant.
“The XBB.2.3 subvariant is an XBB sublineage that was added to the list of variants under monitoring by WHO last May 17, 2023. The variant was initially flagged for its increasing global prevalence and has been detected in 53 countries or jurisdictions across six continents, according to sequence submissions in GISAID,” said DOH.
“As of current date, the Philippines has detected 21 cases of the variant among samples sequenced,” it added.
The DOH also reported additional 41 infections of BA.2.3.20, one case of the XBC subvariant and four other sub lineages of Omicron.
Thirty-four other infections classified with no assigned lineages were also recorded by the DOH.
The XBB Omicron subvariant is still the most dominant strain of COVID-19 in the country, with a total of 2,063 cases recorded — of the said subvariants, XBB.1.9.1 has the most number of infections at 293.
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